Review Of British Miracle

[EPH]

It is possible to count loads delivered to territories but not possible to check loads consumed. Since it is always possible to simply load stuff up and redeliver it (or haul it from station to station to station) I decided to set the haulage goals high and leave the rest to the player.

[low_grade]

Aha! I thought the goals were a little high. I try to be an "honest" player when there are hauling goals and not use custom consists to beef up my numbers. Great scenario otherwise, very enjoyable through 1855 at least (where I'm at now with only like 300 goods hauled so far, about 20/yr since I paid for the port/warehouse improvement, which will only bring me to 600 total by 1870.) Think I got a bad seed for iron. Also, though you lose money doing this, I decided to buy up all the iron mines on the map, especially the unprofitable ones, so that none would disappear. I knew I couldn't afford to lose the iron. No problem with the other goals.

Just wanted to see if there were any reviews for this scenario, because usually I find Gold is attainable 5-10 years before scenario end (on medium anyway) and wondered if others maybe thought the goal for Goods was high, too.

Great history bits and effects.

Holy cow was there a lot of very profitable passenger traffic, at least in the middle of the game, and so Hotels and Restaurants, too.

I started in Lancaster/Manchester/Liverpool. Went with standard gauge. Bought up several AIs. It's always surprising when you buy one for like $2.5M but they have $1M in cash on hand you get right back! Before buying them though, I connected to any that were close to let them run trains on my track so I cold get the miscellaneous income boost. Oh, wait... that means they were also hauling away my goods, potentially... Hm. Don't think it was that much, only a couple years before I bought them anyway. I also connected neighboring AI's so they'd run across my track between each other. I thought that was a clever idea! Okay, so miscellaneous income was only ever like $300K-$700K. Whereas express income was like $5M-$10M. Took a while to get the coal hauling above 12, then 25 or whatever the next level is, then I never had to think about it again.. Bought into Scotland early, ran Edinborough-G-Ay. Also did a Newcastle-Carlisle-D spur that extended out to a nice coal field. Then connected those two down to York where an AI was. Had the Edinborough-London Connection in like 1946.

Just a thought on how it might be possible to get the resources to come out a little more consistently... perhaps set the relative probability of iron mines higher (all that coal that was popping up mid game was useless) but set the building density lower by like 3-5%, and manually place a few coal mines to start with. That way you still get the coal we need early, and not too much iron, but eventually we do get the iron when we need it, and not so much coal.

Well, thanks for another fun scenario, though between the two so far, I preferred Japanese miracle I think.

[EPH]

I think I like Japanese Miracle better also, and I think I know why: more locomotives available, and more cargos. In JM you master steel, then goods, then oil and plastic, rubber for car tires and so on - there is always 'one more thing' until the game ends.

With BM, there are coal, textiles and goods - and not much else. The locos are nice, but there isn't much variation. I tried to find something else to add, because it seems to me the game loses its 'zip' after 1855 or so. I wasn't able to find a way past that hump. If you have any ideas for adding interest to the end of the game, please let me know.

The low amount of iron was of course intentional. The large number of tool and die industries was historical. In combination, it makes the goods haulage requirement somewhat frustrating. If I was going to change anything I would restrict the iron mines to a single region and increase their % chance of happening. I think it is being spread out over such an area that makes the density too low, not their absolute number. The only solution is to build steel mills and use the steel to drive your tool and die shops. That, and build some dedicated track, stations and trains to haul the silly iron to where you need it.

The dock improvements are really essential in this game. I've never tried playing without them but I can't imagine it would be a successful strategy. As you note, there is more than enough express and freight traffic to make the money to pay for the improvements. I set the goals at a 'reasonable' level. I never have trouble making them and I never deliberately 'rehaul' the same cargo from point to point and back.

I'm glad you liked this one. As I say it doesn't have the same 'zip' as Japanese Miracle, but it beats the original two PopTop British scenarios by a fair bit, or so I think.

[EPH]

British Miracle version 2 is now available for playtesting. I haven't asked Hawk to post it because it still needs fine-tuning, especially in the victory conditions.


Things that are different:

1) Haulage goals for GOLD are reduced, but a haulage goal for steel is added. This will give you all something to do after 1855 ( ). Also the amount of iron produced is increased by quite a bit, especially so from overseas.

2) Territories and regions are different. The rest of the world is modeled by 'islands'; two pre-existing companies model the water-borne trade with the continent (France, Germany, Scandinavia) and the Americas. A third route to 'Philadelphia' is available for purchase; access to Ireland and Scotland are also purchaseable. So you can actually live Brunel's dream of a steam-powered land and sea route from London to America... we're just doing it by trains that run over the water.

3) Access to london cannot be had. You will have to build around it - as Paddington, Waterloo, St Pancras, Victoria and the other stations were all built in the suburbs. Hooking up to the London docks will prove advantageous.

You won't have much luck buying up the steamship lines -at least I haven't - but owning your own connection to 'the States' is worth a lot. Adding the steel goal should make the end of the game more interesting. And working around London is... realistic.

I'm hoping that, with your help, British Miracle can be improved. Let me know by PM if you are interested.

[Bill Seiko]

where do I get British miracle scenario? I tried ther link but it is dead now.
I need an easy Scenario to get going on.
Thanks

Bill

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Admin Note: The link in this post is fixed.

[nedfumpkin]

I would recommend that you look at some of the strategies at the end of this topic (earliest) and follwo the strategies listed for the maps that come with the game. Try Go West (viewtopic.php?f=23&t=92) it's a fun scenario.

[HurstLlama]

I am trying to play version 3 of the excellent British Miracle Scenario. Unfortunately in five game starts I have five crashes to desk top in about 1848. I win the battle of the guages and then a year or two later, splat, the game crashes. I can reload from the last auto save but within a short space of time it will crash again.

I have not had any problem with any other scenario. Can someone point me in a direction that will enable me to finish this one?

Many thanks

[EPH]

I haven't had any issues with the scenario, but it has been a while sime I played it. I suggest it may be an event firing that is causing the problem. I'll see if I can take a look and get back to you.

[HurstLlama]

Thanks, EPH, I'd be grateful for any pointers.

I have tried again, twice, and once I got a little further but with the same end result. I fear it might down to my system but it is relatively new with a good graphics card and a lot more memory than was common when the game was released. I have also tried lowering the game settings, but it makes no difference. I am patched to 1.6 and I have never had any problem with other scenarios, I even ran Mississippi Valley well beyond the finish so that there was a lot more track and more trains running than when the British Miracle scenario crashes and everything was fine.

[Hawk]

If you're playing British Miracle in 1.06 you are most likely getting different results than if you play in in 1.05. Maps played in 1.06 that were not built in 1.06 will play differently than they were intended.

That's why a lot of us have more then one install of RT3. A 1.05 install, a 1.06 install, and a Trainmaster install.

[HurstLlama]

Thanls Mr. Hawk, that is interesting. Maybe I need to go back to a 1.5 insatll and see if it works there.

Of course the problem then is how do I know waht maps to play under what install? Unless there is something in the release notes how is a fellow to know?

[EPH]

I'm still checking to see if I can reproduce the problem. I've just gotten to 1846 and the Battle of the Gauges; with any luck I'll get through that decade tonight and let you know what I find.

This scenario has a lot of things that the AI doesn't like, including all the trackage over 'water'. Physically it is a big map and the AI players get to be fairly large. Anyway, I'm still looking.

[Hawk]

Of course the problem then is how do I know waht maps to play under what install? Unless there is something in the release notes how is a fellow to know?

Maps in the archive here are noted in the description if that map requires the 1.06 patch. If it doesn't state that it requires the 1.06 patch then it should be played in 1.05.

See the screen-shot below for an example.

Click on image to view full size

British Miracle does not state it requires the 1.06 patch.

Hope this helps some.

[EPH]

I have never made the transition to 1.06 so all my scenarios are 1.05. I don't know why that would affect your gameplay, as I've never heard of 1.05 games not running under 1.06. So far I'm up to 1850 in my game without any problems. Ordinarily I'd ask you to send me your savegame but I'll be in Dallas until Friday. Perhaps when I get back we can try that.

Have you tried restarting the scenario? I know that it is a pain to lose all the time you've invested but RRT3 is buggy that way sometimes.

[Hawk]

as I've never heard of 1.05 games not running under 1.06.

1.05 maps will play in 1.06, but because of the changes made in 1.06 they most likely won't play as intended.
Maps made for 1.06 on the other hand, won't load in 1.05, at least that's been my experience.
If someone sends a map to add to the archive, I load it in 1.05 first, to get the screen-shots, and if it isn't listed in the map selection list, I move it to the 1.06 install.

[EPH]

I've played through 1860 without any problems. I'll check here on Friday or Saturday to see if you are still having issues.

My game has been smooth this time and a lot of fun. I concentrated on building the rail net first and building industry only after I got my coal deliveries up to snuff - the opposite of my usual strategy, but it paid off big this time for me.

[HurstLlama]

EPH,

So far I have seven game starts with this scenario, all have which have led to the same sorry, frustrating, conclusion. I can let you have a save game if you would be so kind as to check it out on your rig.

Thanks again for all your efforts.

[EPH]

Sure. Zip it and attach it to your reply to a PM.

[EPH]

Unfortunately, I can't load a 1.06 scenario as I'm patched upto 1.05.

[HurstLlama]

Unfortunately, I can't load a 1.06 scenario as I'm patched upto 1.05.

Dang! No problem, I'll repatch to 1.05 and start again, I'll get the same result. Might take a day or two.